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I have entered a MS in the Brock Yates’ One Lap of America (f.k.a. The Cannonball Run) which will be held this year from April 30th thru May 7th. My co-driver and I have competed in this event for many years since 2000. Now that there are more than 250 SC stations across the U.S., the time is ripe to run the One Lap in a Tesla.

I wanted to get a read as to whether or not those posting here are familiar with the event and what level of interest the Tesla family might have in following the event. Ideas, critiques and suggestions are always appreciated.

Below is a list of the track events (a.k.a. races) scheduled for the week. I am still working out the logistics before I will be able to post a schedule as to when we will be charging at the various SC stations en-route between track events.

Since the week-long One Lap always starts and ends in the same location, the 3,000+ mile trek is clearly all about the journey!

I suspect that the successful completion of the 2016 One Lap in an EV could be about more than just demonstrating great performance -- it might actually help to dispel some peoples’ fears with range anxiety.

If there is interest, I will continue to post more info as it becomes available. Please pass this along to others you suspect might be interested in following how well the Tesla Model S P90D stacks up -- even against such an impressive well-prepared bunch of ICE vehicles that are competing in this year’s Brock Yate’s One Lap of America.

Have fun and enjoy the trip but you're not breaking new ground. I don't think that taking your tesla across the country is anything that hasn't been done already, and done when there were less SCs operating. there are many stories from TMC users who have done it. I've gone from FL to CO which is about 2/3 of the country and it wasn't a big deal.

Have fun and enjoy the trip but you're not breaking new ground. I don't think that taking your tesla across the country is anything that hasn't been done already, and done when there were less SCs operating. there are many stories from TMC users who have done it. I've gone from FL to CO which is about 2/3 of the country and it wasn't a big deal.

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kort,

with all due respect...that's not what OLOA is. Its a mix of track days and transit days all accumulating to the fastest time.

It's REALLY hard on the car and the drivers.
First there are only two, one usually drives, the other mechanic. Both help out.
You are only allowed street tires and NO support vehicles.

The track days are intense. Most of the tracks, the contestants haven't run, so they study them as best they can, get some test laps then try to put down a fast time.

I think it is TOTALLY breaking new ground as you are pushing the car to the max ability.

The transits are as important as the track times. Depending on the SC locations his transit could be handicapped due to the wait to recharge.

Not only that, tracking the S will be tough due to the car pulling power when the motor gets hot.
He might be better off studying the track with no test runs, then try to put down the fastest lap on his first go.
Save battery, then get on the road to the next location.

Great stuff. I am sure you'll have other things to do during the race, but a quick daily update would be cool. Good luck!

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Gerti,

We hope to provide updates throughout the week. The One Lap of America website gets updated after each event so you will be able to follow results there also. Thanks for wishing us good luck, since it's motorsports == luck is always a factor!

with all due respect...that's not what OLOA is. Its a mix of track days and transit days all accumulating to the fastest time.

It's REALLY hard on the car and the drivers.
First there are only two, one usually drives, the other mechanic. Both help out.
You are only allowed street tires and NO support vehicles.

The track days are intense. Most of the tracks, the contestants haven't run, so they study them as best they can, get some test laps then try to put down a fast time.

I think it is TOTALLY breaking new ground as you are pushing the car to the max ability.

The transits are as important as the track times. Depending on the SC locations his transit could be handicapped due to the wait to recharge.

Not only that, tracking the S will be tough due to the car pulling power when the motor gets hot.
He might be better off studying the track with no test runs, then try to put down the fastest lap on his first go.
Save battery, then get on the road to the next location.

I am also on the GT-R forums and know how tough OLOA can be.

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You've got the event figured out. I like to describe it as a week of race all day, drive all night, repeat. The ultimate roadtrip!

Please do post updates; I might visit one or both WI events (need to check calendar). Good luck! FWIW, a friend of mine did One Lap in a Honda CRX -- twice!

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Dithermaster,

Hope you can make it out to the tracks in WI. A day at the track is always a great time! The One Lap of America can tend to be a little addictive so I'm not surprised to hear that your friend has run it twice. Maybe we should all have our heads examined?

The 33rd Brock Yates' One Lap of America is underway and unfortunately my co-driver and I had to pull our registration at the last minute. A combination of my co-driver's unanticipated work demands and running short on time to rally support for our entry ultimately led to our decision to reluctantly pull out. It is disappointing because I believe the One Lap of America could have been a great testament to just how competitively the Tesla Model S performs and how well the current Supercharger network can support even the most demanding of road trips.

Now for the good news -- wait for it! Last year's winning driver Catesby Jones experienced some difficulties with his car during the Sunday morning session at Pittsburgh International Race Complex but on Monday he picked up a Tesla Model S and is presently enroute to Summit Point, WV for tomorrow's events. According to Facebook, As of 1 hour ago Catesby was at the Supercharging Station in Darien, CT. Best of luck for the remainder of the week!

For those who are unclear on how this event works (Including me) I found this One Lap of America

Quote: "starting in 1992 put the Cannonball One Lap of America on the format it uses today: Nearly twenty-four hours a day driving with competition taking place as time trials on race tracks throughout the country. The event, as it always has been, is foremost one of endurance and vehicle preparation. No support crews are allowed. The tires that are used on the street are the same ones that are raced on (one set per team). Although scoring is based on performance at the race tracks, the vehicles and their drivers must survive over 5000 miles of driving..."

The part that concerns me is the teams of just 2 people driving "Nearly 24 hours" a day on public roads. That doesn't sound like a good idea. Brian, could you explain that in more detail? How much sleep does each team member get in the course of a day?

Also, the "Time trial" runs on the race tracks sound very challenging for an EV. You would want to run some practice laps but then the battery will be low and the motor hot, and there are no Superchargers at the tracks. Plus you are under time pressure to do everything as fast as possible.

I'm a huge EV fan, obviously, and recent years of the Pikes Peak Hill Climb show that EVs can do very well in certain race environments, but this event sounds like ICE cars have a clear advantage to me.

Sounds like an awesome trip. The West Virginia hole and the I-80 PA hole are going to make things tough for him though.

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The I-80 hole is no longer an issue since Catesby Jones bought the Tesla on Monday in Boston and by that time the One Lap of America schedule had already progressed beyond the I-80 hole. My plan to avoid the I-80 hole was to travel from Pittsburgh International Race Complex to Palmer Motorsports Park via I-90 which would have added only about 30 miles to the trip Sunday night. Interestingly, when I spoke with some of the ICE teams on Monday at Palmer Motorsports Park many had chosen to take I-90 instead of heading across Pennsylvania anyway.

Here was my plan for this transit in google maps. The longest leg between Superchargers was 205 miles from the Cranberry, PA to the Buffalo, NY.

Our plan was to approach charging the Tesla in a manner similar to how pilots calculate how much fuel to take on when they refuel prior to takeoff. We would stop often since the batteries can take on more energy more quickly the less full they are and only get enough of a charge to get us to the next Supercharger so that when we arrived at the next Supercharger we would have a buffer of energy in the batteries (approx. 20 miles). Obviously, this is a very different philosophy than destination charging or refueling an ICE vehicle where the mantra is "FILL'ER UP !!

For those who are unclear on how this event works (Including me) I found this One Lap of America

Quote: "starting in 1992 put the Cannonball One Lap of America on the format it uses today: Nearly twenty-four hours a day driving with competition taking place as time trials on race tracks throughout the country. The event, as it always has been, is foremost one of endurance and vehicle preparation. No support crews are allowed. The tires that are used on the street are the same ones that are raced on (one set per team). Although scoring is based on performance at the race tracks, the vehicles and their drivers must survive over 5000 miles of driving..."

The part that concerns me is the teams of just 2 people driving "Nearly 24 hours" a day on public roads. That doesn't sound like a good idea. Brian, could you explain that in more detail? How much sleep does each team member get in the course of a day?

Also, the "Time trial" runs on the race tracks sound very challenging for an EV. You would want to run some practice laps but then the battery will be low and the motor hot, and there are no Superchargers at the tracks. Plus you are under time pressure to do everything as fast as possible.

I'm a huge EV fan, obviously, and recent years of the Pikes Peak Hill Climb show that EVs can do very well in certain race environments, but this event sounds like ICE cars have a clear advantage to me.

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This year's Brock Yates' One Lap of America is projected to cover 2,827 over-the-road miles. Here is the schedule that details every leg of the journey.

Driving normal highway speeds ICE teams usually have sufficient time to check into a motel near the next day's track, get in bed to catch a few hours of sleep, take a quick shower and change clothes before being out at the track for the morning time trial. Teams have a minimum of two drivers but some have more. It is every team member's job to try and catch as much sleep as possible whenever they don't have a function to perform because if you only plan to sleep when you are in a comfy bed you are going to be pretty darn tired by the end of the week. Unlike rally racing that requires both the driver and co-driver be awake and functioning; in the One Lap of America, if you're not driving you can sleep. Plus, tell me who hasn't taken a nap while Supercharging?

The time trials I believe actually lend themselves quite nicely to the Tesla Model S. First off, there are no "practice laps" so you don't have to waste any of the batteries' charge. Each time trial consists of one warm-up lap, three hot laps, and one cool-down lap. The warm-up and cool-down laps can be done to conserve battery power so we are really only pushing the car for the three hot laps.

The longest leg is 198 miles. Unfortunately, we have to travel 100 miles more than an ICE vehicle. It takes a Tesla 718 miles and an ICE vehicle can do the trip in only 618 miles. In addition, the closest Supercharger to the destination is still 83 miles from the track. This is by far the most challenging transit for a Tesla due to the West Virginia hole -- but still very doable IMHO.

Can't you drive a Tesla Model S on a road course in the rain for 7 minutes with the ambient temperature in the upper forties without running into any issues?

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Nope, you probably only would get about 3 minutes based on the nurburgring runs folks have done. Still, its not like the car falls apart then, you're just power limited. You should still be able to post a semi-respecatable time, just don't expect to win.

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